Obama’s Regulatory Agenda Goes Undercover

Throughout President Obama’s tenure, the number and cost of major regulations has approached record levels—exceeding $46 billion in new annual costs during his first three years. The impact has been economically crippling, of course, notwithstanding the administration’s boasts of regulatory benefits. Yet the White House seems rather shy of late about its hyperactive rulemaking, all of the president’s promises of transparency be damned.

Here it is almost September, and the administration has failed to publish its spring 2012 Regulatory Agenda as required by law. The compendium of planned regulatory actions is required each spring and fall under the Regulatory Flexibility Act as well as Executive Order 12,866, which originated with President Clinton and was reaffirmed by President Obama last year.

With no word from the White House on its failure to comply, Sen. Rob Portman (R–OH) sent a letter of inquiry this week to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. “Concerns about bad press … are no excuse for keeping these plans under wraps,” Portman said. “With regulatory burdens already hindering job creation, the American people are entitled to know the full magnitude of new Obama Administration regulations coming down the pike.”

The fall 2011 agenda listed 2,576 newly proposed and final regulations in the pipeline, including a disproportionate share from the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Health and Human Services, Treasury Department, Security and Exchange Commission, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

There’s plenty of evidence that this regulatory frenzy will persist—if not escalate—with or without warning. Whether or not the White House reports it, Obamacare and Dodd-Frank alone would spawn dozens of new major regulations with annual costs in the tens of billions of dollars.

The White House has also postponed a number of major regulatory initiatives in recent months—presumably to be resurrected during the safety of a second term. For example, punishing new ozone standards promulgated by the EPA were withdrawn at the president’s “request,” as were prohibitions on youth employment in agriculture. Meanwhile, major new food and nutrition regulations are MIA, as are rules governing control of so-called greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

Activist groups are whining, of course, about the president’s newfound regulatory caution. But a great many others are left puzzled by the information blockade given Obama’s pledge to make his administration “the most open and transparent in history.” That’s so 2009, evidently.

Join The Discussion

Is this really how we want our government to operate? Hide the news when it's bad? Trump out the good news even if national security is at risk? Push politically risky regulations into the future when the President has "more flexibility" and/or the public be damned? I, for one, am tired of this administration trying to play us for fools.

Criminal plan to hobble US industry and bring the nation to its knees, that makes killing us so much easier. This is not politics it is war and a failure to acknowledge that makes our defeat inevitable.

"Open and transparent" are just words some lackey speechwriter put on Obama's teleprompter to win over the foolish and weakminded, ( i.e. activist groups that benefit). It hard to understand that anyone would actually be "puzzled" that Obama and is forces would not openly advertize their crippling achivments in the past 31/2 years, in this an election year. The people have a very short attention span and Obama knows it. He must have everyone forget the past.

This is a clear indicator of what PRESIDENT ROMNEY needs to address immediately upon taking office. Regulations are killing the American Industry and People. He needs to do an across the board reduction in Federal Agencies. EPA, Dept. of Education, Dept. of Energy, Dept. of Agriculture, etc. People in those agencies need to be shifted to other agencies that actually accomplish something, and the agencies themselves dissolved. Then a 2-year phase out of those extra people through retirement or attrition. Why? Because there are so many agencies, creating so many regulations, that nobody can keep track of them all; including the agencies themselves. This is not only wasteful and harmful to the American People and Industries; it's just insane!

Obama's glaring and unprecendented dishonesty is shameless.He has ignored his own conscience (if he has one at all) for the sake of achieving the left's agenda and for his own self-advantage. If you don't accept his lies, then you are demonized by him. He has manipulated his own identity to achieve his ends, and in doing so, has manipulated the truth. He keeps saying "We inherited a $l.3Trillion deficit…that wasn't me." Actually the Democrats held control of Congress in 2007 and 2008 and so controlled the purse strings that led to the deficit Obama "inherited".Obama supported the bailout package in Bush's final months, a package that the Democrats wanted to make even bigger. To be continued….

continued…his pledge of cutting the deficit in half by the end of his lst term was ignored and in reality had increased the debt by $5 Trillion. He stated, "I am immediately instituting "Pay as you Go" which means Congress can only spend a dollar if it saves a dollar elsewhere." But this was NEVER instituted and our deficit soared. Obama and his adm. knows only too well how to use falsehood for the basest purposes. But, most blatent of all was taking the Oath of Office to do his best to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States; he has violated and ursurpeds the power of Congress to make laws, by not defending our borders and suing those that do, ignored Congressional subpoenas, refusesd to defend the laws of our land such as the Defense of Marriage Act and our Immigration policies and used bribes to pass Obamacare. This man should be impeached.

President Obama says that the Republican Party wants to go back to the past in their "Trickle down fairy dust approach". How backwards is he in wanting to over regulate by Executive Fiat and rule this country like a dictator, how yesterday is that approach? The Reagan tax cuts were extremely successful because giving Americans THEIR MONEY back will always stir a resurgance in a Capatilist society such as ours!! Let us get our economy back on its feet and back to its rightful AAA credit rating, and Americans back to work by oti g out Obama and the progressive liberals!!

Are we sit quietly while we are losing, right now, big business to Mexico: GE, Honeywell,
Goodrich, Cessna and others are leaving because of these Socialistic Big Government Agency edicts. No! We will pursue Socialism at the direct expense of Capitalism; then, and only then will this President run out excuses for why manufacturing is at historic lows, why our Coal industry is disappearing with thousands of jobs and why our economy is in the worst recovery in the history of our Nation. But, he will be the uncontested BOSS!

What needs to happen when the Romney administration takes office is for the President to issue an immediate order to delay implementation of all presidential orders and regulations for a period of 90 days pending review. After the 90 days, about 98 percent of them need to be rescinded without delay. I know that what I'm suggesting is nothing more than a pipe dream. We can only hope.

I just watched a video where Pres. Obama stated that he was not born in the U.S. , and that he was born in Kenya. The video was supposed to be right after he was elected to the senate. If this happened before the last election, why was this guy even allowed on the ballot in 2008? Why would the Republican Party or even The Heritage Foundation let this continue on with out any kind of accountability questions? With this kind of info out there, why would the administration worry about making public it's regulatory agenda ???

"Job growth" isn't "growth" unless it exceeds the jobs market that existed before Obama's regulatory agenda. "Job growth" determined any other way is distorted and misleading. Obama made a career in government so what led to 2008 was prominently known to Obama as he used it to insist he would fix but did nothing while he could to avoid. He didn't vote on ANY BILL to avoid and some to ensure the consequences and sacrifices he lays on us daily. He used it to put blame on another name, to use time, illusion, con and money to add rules, regulations, mandates and government support not needed at any time before, where accountability is, while he promotes trust in expanding government control? How about learning the job of presidency and getting off our backs. The only faith Obama has in the people of America is to control people by government design and it's a nice thing to say to cover up his true agenda!

David Axelrod looks like the broom sweeper man in cartoon, after the Carol Burnett show!

What got us here that we the people would promote any kind of control outside our own that does nothing but bad mouth us and refuses to listen to us as Americans?

Democrats see America and her people as good as mouths shut and happy to take government abuse! "It's what the people want" says the government over the people who want nor asked NOTHING of the democratic sort!

Team Obama has discovered that they can use "regulatory action" to put in place elements of their agenda no one in Congress would publicly raise their hand to vote for, while at the same time Obama found there is little effective push-back from either Congress or the people at large. So obviously, under these conditions, they see no reason not to continue on this merry little campaign of wholesale transformation of the country through regulation. The majority of the American people seem to be oblivious to what is being done to the country or they're more interested instead in Jersey Shore or Dancing with the Stars. Either way, this sends a message to team Obama that they can continue to do as they please. Not a good sign if America is going to be able to turn itself around and get back on track.

Don’t have time to read the Washington Post or New York Times? Then get The Morning Bell, an early morning edition of the day’s most important political news, conservative commentary and original reporting from a team committed to following the truth no matter where it leads.

Email address

Ever feel like the only difference between the New York Times and Washington Post is the name? We do. Try the Morning Bell and get the day’s most important news and commentary from a team committed to the truth in formats that respect your time…and your intelligence.